Seeing the Unseen
Spiritual Warfare Week IV

“I believe there are angels among us, sent down to us, from somewhere up above”
-Alabama

Who has ever seen an angel? Have you? Have you ever met one? I think I did once. Others claim to have. Do you believe angels are present and at work in our daily lives?
It is my personal belief that angels both good and bad are present and active among us. At times, they may allow themselves to be seen. Others times they may not. Or maybe, we have seen them this weekend even, but we have no clue what we have seen.

As we continue looking at the key players in this battle, this week (and possibly next) we will spend a little time looking at angels. There are both good and bad angels. As a culture, over the years, we have been fascinated with them (City of Angels, Calling All Angels- Train, It’s a Wonderful Life, Touched by an Angel)! We love to make them out as cute little cherubic happy creatures shooting arrows of love at us! Many of us were taught probably that Angels were merely messengers, and as such not to worry too much about them. Also…what was your image as a child of what you would become when you died? (think Bugs Bunny).

Why look at angels? Understanding their power and existence more will certainly NOT lead us to victory in this fight. Only being armed with the faith in Jesus Christ can do that!!! But knowing all aspects of this spiritual battle, including the key players, can be a huge advantage in the struggle!

Let’s take a look at just what we may not know about angels.

Angels vs. People

Are angels different than us? If so how? What are the biggest differences?
** Are Angels superior to humans???????? -----this may be a toughie for ya’!

Yes they are! Let’s read Hebrews 2:7….. the way I read it is that to be a human, is to be lower than angels! They are on a lower order than the Godhead, but a HIGHER order than mankind. Angels were created to be angels (Colossians 1:16, Psalm 148)…..and we DO NOT ever get to be one! Humans and Angels… (Rev. 19:10) are totally different and even on different levels.

Angels vs. God

An angel is NOT God. (we talked about all of this last week in our study of Satan)They cannot do what he does! They were created to be servants of God, by God….not close to an equal. Let’s quickly rehash last week’s thoughts:

• They are not omnipotent and all powerful like God is! They cannot create and they know limitation.
• They are not omnipresent. Only God is everywhere. An angel has to travel to get somewhere (Luke 1:19, Daniel 10). ***(interesting side note: this very well could mean that Satan, since he IS an angel, may have never been in your presence himself!)
• They are not omniscient. There is a limit to their knowledge. (I Peter 1:12, Matt 24:36)------ great example was at the cross…..Satan thought that killing Jesus there would bring him victory (I Cor. 2:7-8)
• Angels SHOULD NOT be worshipped! Col. 2:17-19, Rev. 19:10

Get the point???? While they are some powerful beings, Angels are not God!

What do Angels Look Like?

Have you ever wished to see an Angel?
Have you ever considered this realistically? What do YOU think?
Truth is…this is an almost impossible question to answer, as it seems that angels can appear to humans in any form they choose! Consider a few examples. Angels appeared as:

• A serpent to Eve(Gen. 3)
• Men to Abraham and Lot(Gen 18-19)
• Flames in the burning bush to Moses(Acts 7:30)
• Invisible until they decide to reveal themselves (Num. 22:21-34)
• Terrifying (Dan. 10:7-11)

These are a few references but I think the point is clear: they can appear in any form! So what do they look like……ANYTHING THEY WANT TO!!! That freaks me a little bit.What about you? They could be right next to you and you’d never know. They could be a flame on a candle, or a snake in your flower bed…or even scarier..they could stand right next to you with a weapon drawn ready to kill ya’ (just like they did with ol’ Balaam)! Still want to see one?

In his book, Joe Beam tells about 2 stories run several years ago in Time and Newsweek magazine, about angels. Both made this point: if angels are appearing to men today, why are all the experience such good ones? Aren’t some Biblical references to angelic appearances stories of very scared people who DID NOT like what they saw?
They got a point that many of us Christians DO NOT get: angels…even the good ones, can be terrifying. (Read Daniel 10) Mr. Danny Boy…who, by all accounts, I would call VERY courageous was scared to the point of passing out! And these were good angels!

My point is that angels are NOT at all what we generally think about them! And I am just touching the tip of the iceberg of the topic. I am only talking about angels role in spiritual warfare…..they are a part of it, but NOT the essence of it!

Can Angels Communicate to Us?
Can an Angel talk to you? Would it be audible? What do you think?

I don’t think they have to communicate using our 5 senses. They can communicate directly into our minds! Yikes huh?!?!?!?!?? Well, let’s read the following verses to see where that crazy idea came from:
 

*Gen. 31:11, Matthew 1:20, Matthew 2:13, Matthew 2:19
It seems that an angel “talked” to Jacob and Joseph both in dreams…this uses NONE of the 5 senses we know of! A dream is a thought, which means that angels communicated directly into the thoughts of these men! What do you think about this? ****(if they can talk into your thoughts it makes you wonder if they can “hear” them too!!!!) What do you think?


Think about these things this week. Are you entertaining angels? Are they talking to you?
Next week, we will take a look at some of the key differences between good and bad angels.
 

HOMEWORK

1- What is your true estimation of angels and their existence? In what ways have I been wrong in my thinking about them or underestimated them?



2-What do you think is the biggest difference between humans and angels?



3- Write down any time that you MIGHT have been in contact with an angel.



More suggested reading:
A Study of Angels- Dr. Edward Myers